Prince of Feathers
by Zesiro
Summary: Twoshot. A journey brings four unusual travellers to Seigaku. While they search, Fuji deals with himself and the current mystery which is holding the tennis club in its grip. Tezuka/Fuji. Crossover: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
1. One

**Title:** Prince of Feathers  
**Author: **AJ  
**Rating: **K/ T-ish?  
**Warnings:** Slight Slash, language and unbeta'd.  
**Pairings: **Tezuka/Fuji and some Kurogane/Fai  
**Summary: **A journey brings four unusual persons to the Seigaku tennis club. At the same time, Fuji has problems of his own.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.  
**Note: **A two-shot. For Tsubasa RC, it takes place after volume 8 (with those fluffy creatures). And for PoT, it kind of ignores the timeline since I have a bad memory. Sorry for grammatical errors, I still have a lot to learn xD.

**

* * *

Prince of Feathers**  
_AJ

* * *

_

"Oi, Echizen, who are they?"

"What makes you I think I know, Momo-senpai?"

If it makes you wonder who 'they' were, no-one seemed to be capable in giving a proper answer on that question. There could be answers such as 'Strangers' or 'Dunno', but that were answers nobody seemed to appreciate.

So, when the four strangers – who had occupied one of the street tennis courts – began to stir, the tennis players and co just watched in curiosity, minus Echizen who found his Ponta more interesting.

"Hmm.. Kuro-rin, you make an excellent cushion!" Exclaimed the lanky blonde one whilst stretching. As response he got an irritated groan and a harsh push which made him crash back onto the ground. He made a soft _oof!_ sound and let out a long, fake whine.

"Damnit, don't use me as landing spot, mage!" Another voice spoke, or rather, scolded as a well-build man pulled himself onto his feet. "And stop whining, what are you? Four?!"

It went unnoticed by the blonde and raven haired guy that they had onlookers, but not by the smaller brunet who carefully touched the arm of the ninja. Hesitating a bit, he finally murmured "Kurogane-san…" when the raven haired male made a hand movement towards his sword. "Please.. calm down."

Kurogane narrowed his eyes at the small brunet. The blonde was still whining and calling him ridiculous nicknames, but he did his best to ignore him. Although, he was gritting his teeth so he probably could still hear him. "_Why?_ Someone has to learn that idiot a lesson."

"People are.. erm, watching."

He turned around and fell curious eyes upon him. Because of his foul mood he growled in frustration. "What?!" He snapped at the onlookers, his hand resting on his sword.

As the threatening rant began Momoshiro found himself step back in something that resembled fear. He now knew for sure, cosplayers were the worst sort of people and had real looking, shiny swords. His eyes were set on said sword, causing him to grin in an absolute nervous, helpless way. "…Echizen?"

No response.

Tearing his eyes away from the shiny sword he came to the conclusion his younger friend wasn't beside him anymore. By the stairs, he saw a glimpse of the white hat of the boy, going down. "Oi, Echizen! Hey, wait up!" He called and retreated (read: fled) from the tennis courts, leaving others behind.

"Made made dane."

* * *

_A week later_

Morning practises were held early on the day. Of course, otherwise they wouldn't be _morning _practises. But that didn't made it easier for some of the members to leave their comfortable, warm bed alone for a morning full of running, swinging, matches and Inui Juice (the latter only of the Regulars, sadly enough in Inui's opinion).

Like Horio, with his two years of tennis experience (although, one would think that he was lying through his teeth if you saw him play). In the mornings, the redhead fancied his warm bed and teddy bear more than sweating and picking up balls.

Oh, he loved tennis, that wasn't the problem. He only lacked the willpower to get up from his bed and walk to school. When he was finally there, nothing could stop him, but before that, he just wanted his teddy bear. Honestly, who could blame him.

But his flashy shirt always put him in a good mood in the mornings.

However, this morning seemed slightly different from others. He did his daily routine as usual: he got up early for tennis practise, changed, ate breakfast his mother supplied and packed his bag. Only, packing the bag was today's problem. His tennis racket was nowhere in sight.

He frowned his caterpillar-brows (A/N; I couldn't help myself) and rummaged through his bag once again. Nope, no demolished racket. He jumped up from the floor he was sitting on and looked around in his room. For outsiders, it might seemed impossible, finding a particular object in said room, but actually, Horio had an excellent storage plan for all his stuff. Sports gear usually found their way under his bed – along with empty cans of drinks. School stuff like books and sheets were perched onto his desk, and strangely enough also sprawled all over the floor. The chair by his desk was meant for all his clothes – well, most of them.

Thus, it wasn't hard to guess Horio first searched under the never cleaned part of the room; under his bed. He found some cans, a tennis ball, a too small shoe (the left one had mysteriously vanished one day) and some useless rubbish.

This, Horio decided after a quarter of a hour searching without results, was a bad omen for a terrifying day.

Only not for him.

* * *

Fuji Syuusuke, resident genius of Seishun Gakuen, was on a roll today. He had mentally scared his brother, Yuuta, once again, earning himself a dignified 'Aniki!' and a faint, but frustrated blush. A mere five minutes later Yuuta was leaving, yelling at no-one in particular he'd had it and promised he would never come back for the weekends ever again.

That was the only promise he always broke somehow (Yumiko's cooking was the major reason, Yuuta told himself over and over again. It did _not _involve in any way his annoying annoying Aniki).

Fuji had only laughed and waved, accompanied by the words; "Avoid Miluzi!"

The small interaction – no matter how absurd – made the protective older brother in him flan with happiness.

Putting scaring his poor brother aside, he was still having a wonderful morning. His cacti were healthy and the sun was shining when he woke up smiling. The only gloomy presence came from his older sister, who had caringly put a hand on his shoulder saying he had a difficult week lying ahead of him.

-- This line break is provided by Ore-sama –-

Smiling, the genius walked down the path towards his destination. He broke his pace however when a white creature snuck (snuck wasn't the right word, Fuji told himself after seeing how the creature bounced) suspiciously around the corner, obviously in search of something. Probably its master, he thought happily and followed the white… cat? He shrugged, he had seen weirder things before, thanks to his lovely sister.

"We're lost?" Said a boyish voice in concern as the brunet also turned left. His vision became occupied with a boy and a girl. The white creature was perched on the girl's left shoulder.

"Fai-san and Kurogane-san said it was somewhere around here, we'll find it," answered the determined young lady.

Taking a second glance at them Fuji noticed they were wearing the same uniform as him. Still, he cocked his head. He hadn't seen them before. Of course, he didn't knew the whole school by face but that didn't matter.

The boy with the brown hair nodded and a few seconds later they started walking again, towards where Fuji was standing with a thoughtful look on his face for moment, before it was recovered to his usual smile.

Strangely enough, the genius wasn't surprised when the two of them took a halt in front of him. Surely, they had noticed he's wearing the same uniform. And they had mentioned they were lost. And he had never seen them before. If you had some common sense – which Fuji was thankfully blessed with – you could figure it out on your own.

The two glanced at each other before the boy took the initiative. "Erm… excuse us, but do you happen to go to Seishun Gakuen?"

The smile just became brighter. "Saa… Yes, I go there."

"Then, do you know the way to, er, school?" the boy continued asking.

Somehow, Fuji was tempted to say 'no', just for the heck of it.

Though, he did not. He _had_ manners and was supposed to be a nice guy in the eyes of strangers (his poor teammates and little brother knew better). So he smiled kindly. "you can walk with me," he offered.

The girl with the reddish-brown hair was the one to response this time. "Thank you very much, ano..."

"Fuji. Fuji Syuusuke."

She was the cute kind of type, Fuji noted absentmindedly after seeing her bright and genuine smile. She had an aura of pureness floating around her. The boy, however, was completely different. He had the roughness as if he already had faced the hardships of the world.

He suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the boy.

The talk was mainly trivial, but Fuji found out their names – Sakura and Syaoran – nonetheless and that they had just transferred into Seishun. He had snapped his sapphire eyes open when the white creature began talking ("Mokona is Mokona!") and asked them with curiosity if it was some kind of furby, or another sort of soft robot.

The two had just blinked at him with a face that told him 'Furby? Robot?'.

He had let the subject drop. But the unsettling feeling in his stomach had begun growing from that point on.

"Here it is, I hope you can find your way from here on- I have practice to att.." His voice began drifting off as they arrived at the school gate. A slightly orange racket had caught his interest. It was lying completely forgotten on the ground.

A flashback came crashing into his mind of the day the team had dubbed 'The cursed racket'. Ah, good memories.

The genius faced the new transfer students again, smiling an apology. "Sorry, but I really have to go. If you have any questions, just come and find me. I'm in class 3-6. It was nice meeting you."

Sakura nodded. "Thank you for your help, Fuji-san."

By that, he left and picked up the overused racket. His eyes fluttered open when his pale fingers touched the frame of the racket. A slight draining was felt through his whole body - giving him a faint shock - not to mention the iris of each eye had enlarged abruptly – covering the pupils along the way with a pale blue colour.

This all took place in mere seconds. Not long enough for him to notice, minus the sudden dazed feeling. Fuji shrugged it off with little thought and took the racket along to morning practise.

He never heard the abrupt "Mekyo!"(1) coming from the manju-bun-like creature.

**TBC.

* * *

**

**AJ; **Yes, this is really a Tezuka/Fuji fic. Trust me x3. Part one of two done! Till next time, folks.

(1) : Mokona always says Mekyo when the presence of a feather (pieces of Sakura's memory) is revealed.


	2. Two

**A/n;** Hiya! Your resident cripple is finally back. Apologies for the major delay, you can all maul me now. Because of the delay, I have tried adding some length - however, I still think it's a tad on the short side. There are probably some mistakes, for I don't have a beta and my own watchful eyes suck at seeing errors. Sorry for those. But: Happy reading!  
**Disclaimer;** I do own a copy of _Le Petit Prince _(Not Fuji's – wrong language anyway) but I don't own Prince of Tennis. Oh, and CLAMP owns Tsubasa RC.

* * *

**Prince of Feathers  
**_While one becomes weaker, another awakens_

* * *

Tezuka Kunimitsu, having the responsibility as Captain, had been called a day beforehand (on a Sunday, if you were wondering). The weird phone call concerned the coach he deeply respected, the coach who knew every single Regular inside out. The coach who had earned herself a week-long vacation at the hot springs, according to the call. For coaching such a tremendous team, had been the words of the caller. However, the Regulars themselves had been excluded since they had to train for upcoming matches.

Not that Tezuka minded, training was far more important (he stubbornly ignored the mental image of Ryuuzaki-sensei showing the Regulars her brand new pink bikini) than some nameless hot springs.

The caller had said in the end that the club would have a substitute coach for the upcoming week, plus an assistant. He had wished Tezuka 'The best of luck' with a strained voice. And in the end, those words got the Captain thinking. It had sounded as if he really needed it.

Absurd of course. Coaches were proper, civilized people; otherwise they wouldn't be coaching the students. Right? Right. Insert mental head nod.

* * *

Just as Fuji had expected, the demolished racket belonged to a certain loud-mouthed orange-haired freshman with two years of tennis experience. And with such description the only one who that could be was Horio of the freshman trio. Fuji, amused by the thought, found that the kid had a knack of losing his racket. Too bad it wasn't storming this time.

"Ah, thank you Fuji-senpai!" Horio said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment while he was given the racket. He gripped the racquet loosely, but felt his finger tinkling nevertheless. He jumped slightly when the dull buzz waved through his veins, before it disappeared again.

His senpai cocked his head to the side at the paranoid display. "Are you alright?"

Horio blinked several times, only vaguely hearing the other's concern. The buzz was gone, but his hand still felt weird. Not unpleasantly weird, it felt more like positive anticipation. Like he could easily win a match.

He actual jumped when a hand waved in front of his eyes, giving truth to the fact that he had been spacing out. A blink followed, along with another. "S-sorry Fuji-senpai… I'm fine."

Fuji wasn't convinced but let him be, because training was coming up and he still had to chance into his sports gear. He gave Horio one of his knowing smiles which always amused him since the other party receiving the smile would instantly start fidgeting or become blank in the face.

As Horio was left alone with his reunited racket he swallowed nervously. The racket was still in his grip only now he felt nothing.

When Fuji entered the clubroom he was welcomed with the sight of a shirtless Captain. Sure, there also was a shirtless Eiji, a pants-less Oishi and a barefooted Kaidoh but that didn't perk his interest – among others things, to put it shamelessly. He stood silent for a moment, feeding himself on the sight before his cat-like friend discovered him and quite literally jumped him.

The genius tore his gaze away, meeting his with Eiji's. "Can't get enough of me now, can you?"

"Nya, Fujiko!" Eiji complained, letting go of Fuji. "Not funny."

Fuji, however, chuckled softly and made his way to his locker. He dropped his bag, beside Tezuka, on the floor without any grace and started undressing himself.

* * *

Everyone was running their ten laps in their own rhythm as part of the normal warm-up. As usual, the Regulars were in front - their pace was slightly higher than by other members of the tennis club. There still was no sight of their temporary coach (Tezuka had ruined the surprise-factor by spilling the beans to the club) whatsoever thus Tezuka was in charge of morning practice until the coach plus assistant would arrive.

Not that he complained. Oh no. Laps were good. Good.

Tezuka and Fuji were on their ninth lap, jogging side to side like they always did. The fair-haired boy on the Captain's left. However, something unexplainable was present and it bothered the bespectacled boy greatly, although it didn't really show of course. Only the thoughtful frown gave his suspicions away. Usually, when the small genius jogged along with him, he felt strangely at ease. Having comfortable warmth next to him - sometimes talking and laughing, other times just following the pace with an easy smile. Closer than probably should. Running and jogging, it made him feel relaxed behind the stoic facial expression.

Wait.

His light bulb clicked on.

Tezuka dared a glance at Fuji behind his spectacles. The pace was way off. He was going too fast for his smaller teammate, he discovered. An unnerving feeling snuck into his body. He was sure they were already moving slower than usual. Those labored pants, the sticky sweat and only the tiniest hint of a smile. Was something wrong with Fuji? He hadn't looked ill or tired when he arrived this morning, he was a 110 percent sure of that. Otherwise he would have noticed it. Another glance snuck by.

"Fuji, have you been feeling ill lately?" The collected words left his mouth before he could reconsider them.

The genius looked up, completely surprised by the randomness of the question his Captain had uttered. Unconsciously, he swiped some sweat from his forehead before giving him a rather tired smile. "I'm fine, Tezuka-" He almost tripped himself but could contain himself just barely, with the help of Tezuka's quick arm reflex. He was awarded with the Look when Tezuka knew he wasn't telling the truth.

They had stopped running, facing each other now with Tezuka's hand still firmly gripping Fuji's upper arm.

"Alright. Just a bit tired, I guess," the smaller one gave in with a small, unhelpful shrug. His eyes slowly wandered towards the hand and Tezuka noticed, for he suddenly retrieved his hand as if the arm contained a deathly poison. Fuji still felt the hot grip burning on his arm.

Just when Fuji's breathing was normal again a loud command was yelled over the courts.

"Everyone! Get over here!"

The yell was unfamiliar. And intimidating.

Their coach had arrived.

The lateness of the coach irritated Tezuka. A lot. Coaches were supposed to arrive early, or at least, at time. Not this late. Maybe there was an excellent explanation for this all, the Captain hoped. Then he would respect him like a proper sensei the coach was. He did not tolerate lateness.

He snapped out of his thoughts as Fuji tucked him along by grabbing his shirt, as if nothing had happened and the awkwardness he had felt a few seconds ago never existed.

When everyone was gathered up - Regulars in the front, other club members a bit more back, they were greeted with a grinning blond man and a man with the built of a fighter, who didn't look pleased at all as those red eyes flashed through the crowd.

"What a pathe-" The scruffy man was interrupted by the lanky blond.

"Good morning everyone!" His voice was light and amused, his blue eyes sparkling in delight. "As you may know dear Sumire Ryuuzaki is on a week-long holiday and will be back on Saturday so the two of us will be training you this coming week." The blond pointed at himself and poked the bigger man in progress. "This puppy here is Kurogane and I'm Fai."

Clearly offended by being called a 'puppy', Kurogane gave the blonde a scoff and tried – and failing miserably – to get his arm free. The only result was a bigger grin on the pale features of Fai. "You can't be nervous now, Kuro-tan, I even relieved you from the tension," Fai practically chirped.

Fuji blinked, making sure he wasn't seeing things. Smug smile, check. Double meaning, check. Having his reassurance, the genius inwardly had his mental '_Oh_'. It fitted, and above all, that wasn't a sudden sunburn on his sensei's cheeks.

During this revelation, Eiji had shifted his weight from one leg onto the other so he could lean towards his friend for his apparently necessary question. "Tension? By what, a massage?" The cat-like Regular asked in all honestly.

Fuji allowed himself a devilish smile.

"By having hot, wild sex in the Janitor's closet," he whispered back, maybe a bit louder than should.

Silence.

"_W-what_?!" Eiji finally stammered loudly as everyone stayed awkwardly silent. His eyes had increased to plate-sized as a flush quickly spread on his cheeks.

That only made the genius chuckle softly in pleasure. He hadn't heard the abrupt silence his words caused, nor had he seen the awkward faces that were tinged with color from embarrassment. He didn't need to. He knew.

Tezuka, who stood on Fuji's other side, faked a cough before steadying a hard stare on the genius. He still could feel the warmth adorning his face. The mental image Fuji gave him – probably most of the ones within hearing distance - so carelessly was a rather disturbing thought. It was their new coach and assistant, for crying out loud. It was almost as worse as Ryuuzaki-sensei combined with the word bikini. He shut his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fuji."

At the same time a certain outraged coach pointed rudely at the soft chuckling boy. The only thing holding him back was the slim arm wrapped around his left arm. He let out a beasty growl before he started snarling. "You, smartass! Get your scrawny behind _out _of my sight and run laps till you're _dead. Now_!"

Fuji nodded without any complains, his usual façade back in place. Some may have found the yelling of their temporarily coach absolutely intimidating, but Fuji thankfully had seen scarier things and wasn't that quickly frightened. He let out a respectful "Hai!" before leaving the mop of members.

From the corners of his eyes he vaguely saw the blond assistant wink at him, followed by the mouthed words which he could decipher as 'backseat'. Well, that solved the mystery of their lateness. The honey-haired boy let out a deep sigh before he started running again. He was already tired from the warming-up. It was worth it, though.

* * *

"…Maybe some wasabi for the taste?" Fuji brought up with a tone of question. His eyes snapped briefly open as he started at the pure white liquid in the bottle he was holding in front of his face. The stuff wasn't steaming or giving off damp or puffy smoke for that matter. It was just… white. Milky white, to be completely correct.

Inui frowned as he scribbled the suggestion in his small green book. His pen stopped for a moment, tapping the written page softly as he was deep in thought. Calculation the possible outcomes if he would take up the genius' advice. After a short moment the pen clicked again and began writing out the formula. "It's for 35 percent sure you suggested that to tease your other teammates. A 15 percent chance Inui Juice Unrated will taste spicier, 42 percent sure is changes color and a 12 percent chance it will do nothing to improve."

"Saa… Inui, that makes 104 percent," The brown-haired male grinned sheepishly, placing the bottle back on the table. He was tempted to taste the brand new Juice, but knowing Inui it would be impossible whilst the milky white Juice was in the last stage of development. Pity.

"Correct. However, you are unpredictable." Inui informed blandly.

Seigaku's data-man and the resident genius were both seated in an empty chemistry classroom. Inui had been there first, writing out the ends of the formula of a new Juice and after some searching Fuji had found the club member and decided without consulting with the bespectacled man that he would 'help' in developing the new, improved Juice.

And now, Fuji was staring at the Juice, a small smile visible on his lips. It could easily pass for milk. He frowned for a moment. "Say, Inui, didn't you put Echizen on a milk diet so he could grow faster?"

The other regarded him for a moment, glasses shining in an unreadable fashion. "A likely chance you're not asking that to satisfy your curiosity, I presume?"

He shrugged. "Just wondering if the daily dose is enough."

The answer was a flip through the data book. "It should be enough…"

_Bingo_.

"Thank you, Inui," Fuji finally replied, the smile a tad wider than necessary. He stood up from his chair beside Inui and picked up his bag in progress. "Will the Juice be done tomorrow?" He genuinely asked.

Inui vaguely nodded, his mind already occupied otherwise. By that, Fuji left the classroom to head for home. Today had been strange, to put it that easy. Sure, most of the Regulars did what they were ordered by the temporary coach. He truly was ordering around a lot, and Fuji was sure he was near the top of persons the coach disliked with passion. With thanks to his loud assumption. Fai-sensei seemed to have a liking to him after said assumption. Apparently, he could take some teasing.

However, he had a strange feeling that the assistant didn't seem to know what he was doing. He had even heard, when he was watching a game between Oishi and Eiji, that Fai-sensei called rackets enormous fly-swappers. Surely one would know rackets are called, well, rackets?

Before he even knew it, the thinking genius walked past the school gates. There was something else still bothering. Two things to be precise. He tapped his finger against his chin. Momoshiro and Echizen had been acting somewhat out of character today. The dunk smasher kept going on about crazy cosplayers with sharp swords and paled every time Kurogane-sensei came into his eyesight. And Echizen. Twitching wasn't supposed to be normal, even though it were only his hands, right?

Furthermore, Fuji mused, the coach's and assistant's names sounded familiar. He was sure he hadn't seen them before, though. A Yin and Yang like Kurogane-sensei and Fai-sensei were quite the sight. He would have remembered.

"_Fai-san and Kurogane-san said it was somewhere around here, we'll find it."_

Ah.

The new students with the talking robot.

His frown became deeper. So they all knew each other. Surprising himself actually, he didn't find it strange. Somehow, it just fitted. But how, Fuji couldn't grasp.

He heaved his head. Ah, he was already home. He should find some empty bottles.

* * *

The next day brought a lot of hardships for the Seigaku tennis club. However, the coach plus assistant also were included as they were given a glass of was looked like milk, smelled like milk but wasn't milk.

"A welcoming gift, it improves your health," Inui just stated before turning towards the Regulars, glasses shining dangerous. "Everyone who loses will have to drink a glass of Inui Milk."

The gang paled visible by seeing the not-so-harmless liquid in the hands of their coach and assistant – and even more by the many glasses which all were perched upon a bench. Fai-sensei was the first one who took a sip, and unconsciously, most of the Regulars were awaiting what kind of reaction the blond would give.

However, after the sip, Fai-sensei took another, and another and finished by draining the glass completely empty. The large grin on its place, he let out a delighted sigh. "This is good, reminds me of the drinks back home."

Well, that was disturbing. In so many ways.

The next on up was their coach-for-a-week. His crimson eyes glared at the 'milk' suspiciously before heaving his head at the data-player. "What did you put in it?" The most reasonable question one could have, being given a strange glass of white liquid.

Inui only adjusted his glasses. "I'm afraid that's confidential, Kurogane-sensei."

His Inui Milk ended up in the bin.

Another hardship that day was how Fuji acted. The warming-up had drained him from his stamina and his games were downright sloppy. It bothered Tezuka immensely. This was not the Fuji he knew. He wouldn't say it aloud, but at that moment, he was worried. It wasn't every day the person you're interested in was acting strangely and saw pale. When Tezuka had asked him Fuji only had shrugged, brushing off his worries by exclaiming that he was fine.

Tezuka didn't buy it.

And then, on Friday, all hell broke loose.

* * *

Fuji was exhausted. Pearls of sweat were sliding down his face and neck, his mouth was slightly open, panting deeply. The grip on his racket tightened. What was wrong with him? He felt as if he'd played fifteen matches of his caliber on one day.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

Why. Why was he feeling this empty… this dull? Tennis maybe wasn't his first priority, but it amused him to no end. He had fun in it. And this wasn't what he should be feeling. Unconsciously, his half-lidded eyes travelled down, staring at his hand. The knuckles were white from the tight grip.

He was holding his game, his enjoyment. But felt nothing. The push was absent. No tinkling of excitement, no anxiousness. He only felt the surfaced taped piece of nylon. He was drained. This wasn't his game anymore, he concluded bitterly.

He was losing. And terribly. His talent – and hardworking practice – was slowly slipping away through his fingers. Fuji swallowed. Were these thoughts really the raw truth?

His eyes fixed on his opponent. More unreadable than ever.

It was time to find out.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

Sense the wind, feel its streams and let yourself flow.

Fuji found himself a tennis ball, squeezing it determined before bouncing it three times. Four. Another time. Gazing across the net with his sharp eyes. Calculating. He held the ball high and threw it with the grace he still, but barely, owned in the air.

The musical sound of his tennis racket smashing the ball rang like an echo in his head. Almost accusingly. Almost.

He would win this game. Losing, he couldn't. Not anymore. Not like this. He would beat this unexplained darkness. Because, of course, he still fancied a challenge.

Even if it was against himself.

Blue orbs followed the ball, but not really reregistering.

He followed the movement of his opponent, but not truly seeing.

He ran as the yellow ball connected with the other racket, but not as graceful as before.

He reached out and just barely used the sweet spot for a capable return.

The non-Regular was already there, right on the spot.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

His eyes narrowed in concentration, doing his thing, making use of his sensitive senses.

The impact of the other's return was firm; Fuji could feel it in his wrist. He knew what to do with it.

_Hakugei_.

No.

He couldn't feel.

The wind was blowing but it wasn't whispering.

Unreadable.

The ball flew out. The genius kept his eyes on the ball, which was quickly mineralizing in bouncing power.

_Keep breathing. _

The wind kept its breeze, ruffling his hair softly. Touching, but not _touching_ his skin. Dull.

He could hear the others mumble from the sideline. Hearing the actual words was impossible, only snippets reached him although he knew the sentences by whole. 'A triple counter went wrong.' 'What's wrong with Fuji?' 'Ii data.' Or the intense Look of Tezuka burning in his back. He braced himself, his hand now loosely gripping the useless racket.

He felt sick.

He had lost to himself.

Suddenly, his body gave off a single spasm. Because of that, his head snapped up towards the already bright sky. Eyes were wide and filled with uncontrollable blue. Gazing at the sky, Fuji lost complete control. His right hand loosened grip. The racket clattered loudly against the solid ground. Fuji's eyelids fluttered shut at the same time his knees gave in.

_This feeling. Suffocating. He couldn't breathe._

He fell down as a ragged doll. His strings had snapped.

"_Fuji!_"

During this display, nobody noticed the major loss Arai had. By playing against Horio.

* * *

Tezuka felt his throat tightening dangerously when he saw the small genius fall on the solid ground of the court. Even more when Fuji didn't move, or even twitched a limb. He just lay there, motionless. Before he even registered it, his feet were taking him in an astonishing speed towards his fallen teammate.

Behind him, the assistant ran after him followed by some of the Regulars who also had been watching.

He let himself fall onto his knees, not even wincing as the ground scraped them slightly. A hand slid under the fair-haired boy's head. The hand, Tezuka noted absently, was trembling. "Fuji?" No answer, no stir, nothing. He felt his insides grow cold. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. This was Fuji. Fuji was always healthy. Always. The Captain dared another look at the genius' face. Completely out.

What was doing all this?

Next to him, Fai-sensei found his way to the ground, a strange expression on his ever so cheerful face. "Let's bring him to the infirmary."

Tezuka could only nod, and they both got up. The assistant ran quickly towards the coach, muttering something Tezuka could hear _quite well_ as he gave the raven haired man a strange white bulb that had been sitting on his shoulder, before returning. Tezuka picked up the unconscious boy, which went surprisingly easy. His grip tightened around Fuji, not daring to loosen his grip, afraid to let go.

Fai-sensei followed him calmly, opening door when necessary and leading them both to the infirmary. However, when they got there, no-one was around. Fai motioned Tezuka to lower Fuji into a bed, and Tezuka did was he was told without a complain.

* * *

He had seen such a smile long before that blond assistant came along. A beautiful fake smile. Real for most of the world but a false pretence for those who noticed. He was definitely sure the temporarily coach knew. Because those piercing crimson eyes were always watching the blond. Like his. Hazel always watching the genius. Not only on the courts when needed but also as they walked home, ate lunch or saw each other at the library and on. His hazel eyes always found the most important sight.

A rustle of blankets disturbed his thought in a welcoming way. His attention reached towards his friend. A frown of concern became visible again as he intensely gazed at the more pale than ever Fuji. Almost automatically, his hand reached the fair face and stroked the skin softly. Caressing a loved one.

The face that was in agony relaxed slowly at the warm and familiar touch. It gave Tezuka a wave of ease, knowing Fuji was still with him, albeit unconscious.

It felt like a sin, speaking up in this silence. But he had to – he needed to know. And they knew.

"Care to inform me on your suspicions?" Tezuka's tone wasn't one of asking. Demanding came closer.

Not only that smile was fake. The blond assistant who was seated in the most comfortable chair of the infirmary craned his neck so that those rather familiar blue orbs connected with his. The smile was present, but that did not matter for those inside the room.

"Over-exhaustion." The light voice of Fai broke the pregnant silence. Challenging.

Tezuka's eyes narrowed dangerously. "No." He retrieved his hand from the sleeping Regular. "Fuji wouldn't do this to his body. He knows his limit, as for he never comes close to that." He wasn't blaming anyone – yet – but he had a perfect hearing. Fai-sensei's words from earlier the day still echoed in his mind. _The Feather's doing_. "'Feather's doing'? What exactly does that mean?"

"My, my. Direct aren't we, Tezuka-kun? You know curiosity killed the cat, ne?" even though he said that with a deeply amused tone, Fai sat up straighter on the lazy chair.

The vague image of a killed Kikumaru with his tongue sticking out flashed in front of his eyes. His tone did not waver, however. "I'm willing to take the chance. After all, cats have nine lives."

The blond snickered. "Yes, cats sure are great creatures. Fluffy, lazy, disobeying and can kick your ass. They're good at napping too."

Tezuka failed in letting his eye not twitch. He took a deep breath, keeping his temper in line. "With all due respect, Fai-sensei, we're purposely leaving the main topic, although you haven't given me a suitable answer. What is doing this to Fuji?"

Fai tried whistling impressed but it came out as a simple (and rather annoying) 'Hyuu' instead. "Well, since you asked so kindly-" here he winked "-I first want to ask you one little question. Do you believe in world-to-world-hoppers?"

The Captain didn't miss a beat. "No."

"Start believing, then," was the chuckled reply.

An objection was in order but his mouth kept shut. For Fuji's sake. No matter how ridiculous the story may be. "Explain."

"Well," Fai started, grinning like the madman he was, "once upon a time there was this cute princess who lost her memories in the form of feathers. In order to safe her, prince charming begged for the help he needed at the drunken Witch of Dimensions. There, he got two companions, a ninja and a mage, both with their own wish. Prince charming's wish came in the form of Mokona. With Mokona he could travel worlds to search for the magical feathers. The ninja and mage decided to come along, for the sake of their own wish and now we're all stuck here."

Twitch.

He _wished _he had used the nagging objection.

How was he supposed to believe that? It sounded like a very bad told fairytale. Prince charming? Ninja and mage? _Magical feathers_? Absolutely irrational. No matter in which way you looked at the story, it was hard – impossible – to take in. He lived in a sane world. So called 'world-hoppers' did not belong in a sane world. Hmm. Ironic.

"So- questions?" The blond slumped better in his chair again.

Tezuka opened his mouth, although to let it hang open. A weak hand had slightly brushed his. His eyes snapped down at the awoken Fuji. The eyes were half-lidded and the breathing was slow but steady. Only the faintest tinge of color had returned on his face.

"T-Tezuka... believe him," Fuji whispered. The bespectacled boy could see a ghost of a smile.

"You're awake." Pointless, but Tezuka needed the words out. "Are you alright, Fuji?"

"'m Fine," he mumbled. "Just tired," he added before he was given the 'Look of Perspective so don't be an Idiot and tell me the Truth and absolutely nothing but the Truth'.

The Captain nodded, relief flowing over him.

The hand stayed upon Tezuka's, feeding on the warmth. "Fai-sensei, y-you said 'Witch of Dimensions' and..." he took another breath, fighting the exhaustion that was still present in his body. "Mentioned wishes. Is, is she Yuuko-san?"

"You know her?" Fai was actually surprised.

As was Tezuka. But more for other reasons. As in believing this nonsense.

He was waiting for a plausible answer Fuji would give but heard nothing other than the soft and regular breathing of the exhausted boy. He had fallen into a dreamless sleep again. Tezuka truly couldn't blame him, sending himself a horrorstruck shiver down his spine by the thought. How Fuji had collapsed on the court, how he had looked and wouldn't wake up after.

The unreadable look on the assistant's face went unnoticed by those inside the room, but not the words. "We'll talk when Fuji-kun is awake, I'm sure he wants to know the cause of his current state," he told Tezuka, finally grinning.

* * *

Fuji was sitting under the warm infamy blankets, his pillow pressed against his back while he was nursing a steamy mug of tea. The damp of the colorless tea breathed hot onto his face. Seated beside him was Tezuka like usual. The other two occupied was the coach and his insufferable assistant. Kurogane and Fai. Fuji stared from under his eyelashes at the white robot - no, _Mokona_, an actual living creature - still fascinated with the fact that... that _thing_ could transfer the four travelers through other worlds. It was bouncy, fluffy and had a high self-esteem. Fuji smiled in his mug. Yuuko-san sure was unbelievable in her creations.

He took a sip from his tea, letting the warm liquid prick his tongue with its soft taste. "So, this feather is absorbing everything from me that involves tennis?" He softly clarified. Next to him he felt Tezuka straightening up, ready to speak for his behalf. The gesture, how small it made seem, was touching, Fuji thought idly.

"If that's correct, what happens with…" Tezuka searched for the right words. "Fuji's skills and health for that matter?"

Fai grinned. "Given to the receiver, I guess."

That brought both boys into a silence, not counting the soft slurping noise Fuji made sipping the last bit of his precious tea. "Then.." The genius started.

"Someone obtained everything Fuji has worked for," Tezuka finished with a frustrated frown visible on his face.

"On the spot," The blond chirped. "Ne, Kuro-wanko, is anyone playing any different?"

All heads turned towards the big guy, who scoffed in response. "How the hell should I know, mage? I don't know any of those good for nothing brats."

Tezuka decided that this was his cue. He was Seigaku's Captain after all; he's the one who sees the changes, the improvements, and the weaknesses which have to be overcome. His eyes shut for a moment behind his glasses, collecting his thoughts. "When did this start, Fuji?" He asked suddenly, making Fuji's head snap up in surprise.

"Saa…" A helpless smile presented itself here. "I'm not really sure, I guess I started noticing little changes on Thursday."

The answer only made Tezuka shake his head slowly. "Monday, when I asked you if you were ill. I suspect…" He trailed off, but didn't make any motion for continuing.

"Mokona went 'Meyko' for first then!" The white creature piped in, a worried look radiating from his petit face. He bounced from the chair onto Fuji's lap. "Right after you left!"

The two Seigaku members had no idea what that was supposed to mean, so Fuji had a blank look on his face and Tezuka just stared – still slightly disturbed of that thing.

"…Did you do anything particular or found something unusual right after you left?" Fai asked suddenly, with a cocked head. He smiled at the genius as if he already knew the answer of this mystery.

Fuji's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I only gave Horio his racket back before I went to the clubroom. It was lying near the gate and seemed forgotten."

"Horio is playing rather well, this week," Tezuka supplied. "…It can't be."

Kurogane only scoffed. "The feather is inside that freakin' racket of his? Oi, pork-bun, why didn't you feel it?"

"Mokona doesn't know, all Mokona could feel was a faint buzz around this school!" Was the sad answer.

"Is Horio still on the court? We should bring him here, together with Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun," Fai mused softly. "We better help Fuji-kun and Sakura-chan as soon as possible."

"The brat's probably in the clubroom, I'll get him," Kurogane replied and left the three alone for time being.

* * *

Sakura and Syaoran were the first to enter, followed by the scruffy looking Kurogane and the line ended with a nervous and confused Horio. Both Fuji and Tezuka couldn't blame their kohai. It wasn't everyday you were called by the coach and kidnapped into the infirmary. Well, kidnapped probably was a too big word, but he was being forced to come here anyway.

Upon seeing Fuji, Sakura suddenly gasped, her eyes widening as she rusted towards the boy who was still in bed. "Fuji-san! How are you feeling! I heard the story..."

Fuji chuckled softly. "I'm fine." Though, the strain in his face said other things.

"Just start alright, I've had enough of this world," The coach butted roughly in, taking place against the wall as he watched the others in the room closely. Inwardly, Tezuka agreed with the large man. He wanted the normal Fuji back.

"Right!" Fai chirped brightly, motioning Horio to come. "Can I have a look at your racket?"

Horio blinked, and repeated the action. He had heard what was happening when the coach explained it to him and the two others, but that didn't mean he understood the situation or believed such a thing. It was feeling like a train hit him right on, being explained he had stole Fuji's skills and more. It hurt.

Biting his bottom lip, the redhead handed over his racket to Fai, who gently offered Sakura the battered racket. Sakura's slim hand found its way and touched it softly with the tips of her fingers.

"Meyko!"

Abruptly, a sharp glow broke out, blinding everyone in the room a bit before a pure white feather lifted itself from the glowing racket. It stayed there a few inches above the racket Fai was holding, though, after a well counted second it shot itself at Sakura, crashing into her chest with force.

Luckily, Syaoran was there to catch the falling princess.

Fuji in return, fell back on his pillow, arching his back as his hands tightened, crushing the soft sheets he had grabbed. He let out a strangled gasp, the pupils of his eyes disappearing from sight.

For him, there was Tezuka by his side, who had covered one of Fuji's hands with his own, worry leaking from his stoic presence.

And for Horio, Fai was kneeling beside him. The small redhead had fallen, the feeling of exhaustion suddenly hitting him in full force. His body wasn't used how he had played last week and therefore the aching bones were burning more than ever.

As sudden as it came, so sudden it went. The last bit of feather found its way into Sakura as Syaoran held her close by. At the same time, Fuji went slack, breathing heavily. The genius tried focusing his hypnotizing blue orbs and when he finally did, his eyes wandered to Tezuka. The smile he offered never radiated so much warmed. Tezuka in response, squeezed the pale hand he was still holding.

Horio, panting from the aching, was helped onto his feet by a soft smiling Fai. "Everyone okay?" He asked with his light voice.

He earned a vague grunt-like response from Horio and a smile from Fai. Sakura, though was unconscious like she was every time a feather entered her body – dreaming of the obtained memory. Syaoran was holding her and nodded firmly.

"Excellent!" The blond exclaimed. His head slightly turned towards Kurogane, who gave him a nod.

"We should get going," he said, eying the princess for a second. "We've been here long enough."

The other two males of the traveling squad and Mokona silently agreed.

"I guess this is goodbye then," Fai said. "We'll make sure Horio here returns safely. You two can make it home together, right?"

Tezuka nodded at the blond and silently thanked them for helping Fuji.

* * *

"So... how do you know this Yuuko-san?"

Fuji laughed, resting his head on Tezuka's shoulder. "Yumiko with internet access is a scary thing."

**END.  
**Thank you for reading!

* * *

**AJ**: Meh- it was supposed to be a short twoshot thingy. Well. Never mind. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Please review, and a virtual cake finds its way to your screen! xD  
_Extra Note_: If anyone is wondering why Fuji was asking Inui about Echizen, he was thinking of pranking the boy - only since he was busy with some other things he forget to play it out.


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